CN111433543B

CN111433543B - Domestic appliance with a sensor for detecting door movement

Info

Publication number: CN111433543B
Application number: CN201880077975.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: J·格里明格尔; C·罗德尼; H·P·维尔纳; D·比尔
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2017-12-05
Filing date: 2018-11-21
Publication date: 2022-04-05
Anticipated expiration: 2038-11-21
Also published as: WO2019110305A1; CN111433543A; DE102017221868A1; US20210164721A1; US11821677B2

Abstract

A household appliance (1) having at least one movable door (4) and having at least one sensor (6, 7) for detecting a door movement, in particular a door opening angle (a), of the at least one door (4), wherein the at least one sensor (6, 7) has at least one inertial sensor (6, 7) integrated into the at least one door (4). The invention is particularly advantageously applied to refrigeration appliances, in particular refrigerators, having a pivotable door.

Description

Domestic appliance with a sensor for detecting door movement

Technical Field

The invention relates to a household appliance having at least one movable door and at least one sensor for detecting the movement of the door. The invention can be used particularly advantageously in refrigeration appliances, in particular refrigerators, having a pivotable door.

Background

At present, door movement is detected by a hall sensor and a magnet, one component being located on the door and the other component being located on a fixed part (hereinafter also referred to as "body") of the household appliance. It is thus possible to detect the reaching or exceeding of a fixedly predefined door opening angle (also referred to as "trigger angle") which is determined by the fixed installation position of the two parts relative to one another. The determination of the new trigger angle is disadvantageously effected only by manually adjusting the position of the component on the appliance. When a usage-dependent change of the position of the door on the domestic appliance occurs, for example a door sink, the practically lacking possibility for simply readjusting the position of the hall sensor and/or of the magnet is disadvantageous.

Deviations from the nominal triggering angle are disadvantageous, for example, if a camera is installed in the door of the refrigerator, which camera starts when the door is opened, i.e. when the triggering angle is reached in the opening movement, and captures an image of the cooling chamber which can be closed by the door. If the trigger angle is not adjusted, the camera is triggered at the wrong point in time, so that the evaluability of the images recorded thereby is reduced.

US 2014/0293060 a1 discloses a refrigerator. The refrigerator has: a main body or body with a holding compartment; a first door rotatably mounted on a first side of the main body to open and close a first section of the storage compartment; and a second door rotatably mounted on a second side of the body to open and close a second section of the storage compartment. A first camera may be mounted on the first door to capture images of the interior space of the holding compartment during rotation of the first door, and a second camera may be mounted on the second door to capture images of the interior space of the holding compartment during rotation of the second door. The control means may combine a plurality of images captured by the first camera and the second camera into a single modified image of an area of the holding compartment, the area extending from the first door to the second door.

US 2014/0313331 a1 discloses a refrigerator and a method of operating the same. A method of operating a refrigerator that may include a drawer and a camera may include: identifying the beginning of a closing process of the drawer; detecting an internal image of the drawer by using the camera at a point in time at which a drawer closing process is started; and externally displaying and/or transmitting the final image.

US 2016/0182864 a1 discloses a camera system having: a camera device serving as an image detection unit; a communication unit provided to transmit image information detected by the camera device to an external appliance; and a display provided to display the image information detected by the camera apparatus, wherein the display is provided such that it displays at least one of the image information detected by the camera apparatus according to the aforementioned condition and the image information detected according to a user instruction.

US 2016/0182868 a1 discloses a camera device for use in a storage device. The camera device is provided with: a housing arranged to be mountable in a storage device; an image pickup element disposed inside the housing; and an image capturing window provided on the first surface section of the housing and configured to detect an image of the inside of the storage device by the image detecting element. The image pickup element is disposed so as to pick up an image in the storage device in which the housing is mounted.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art at least in part and in particular to provide better detection of the movement of a door, in particular of a refrigerator, in which a camera for capturing images from a cooling chamber is installed.

This object is achieved according to the features of the invention. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the description and the drawings.

The object is achieved by a household appliance having at least one movable door and having at least one sensor for detecting a door movement of the at least one door, wherein the at least one sensor has at least one inertial sensor integrated into the at least one door.

The household appliance has the advantage that the opening angle of at least one door can be determined continuously or in other words continuously by the entire door movement, rather than merely detecting a single trigger angle, as is the case, for example, with a hall sensor. This in turn makes it possible to control the appliance function in particular continuously as a function of a plurality of values of the door opening angle.

If the appliance function is to be activated or activated depending on the predefined door opening angle, the additional advantage is achieved that the activation angle is freely adjustable without mechanical changes of the appliance having to be carried out. This can be used, for example, advantageously to compensate for use appearance and/or assembly tolerances. The use of different camera modules, which require different triggering angles, for example due to different fields of view, can thus also be easily achieved in mass production or during replacement by adjusting the triggering angle by means of a customer service.

An inertial sensor may be understood to mean, in particular, a sensor which is provided for independently measuring a translational acceleration and/or a rotational acceleration.

The sensor is integrated into the at least one door, may in particular comprise that the sensor is already installed at the factory and is not an additional or retrofit component.

The detection of door movement may comprise detection of a parameter of the door associated with the door movement. The detection of the door movement can comprise in particular the detection of the door opening angle of a pivotable or pivotable door and/or the detection of the door opening speed, for example the angular speed of a pivotable or pivotable door. The door opening speed can also be detected in the case of a movable door.

The door is especially a door capable of swinging relative to the body

In one embodiment, the at least one inertial sensor is a rotational speed sensor. The speed sensor is particularly suitable for determining the current opening angle of the door with high accuracy and low expenditure. In particular, the angular velocity of the door can be measured by means of a rotational speed sensor and the door opening angle can thus be determined, for example, by integrating the measured angular velocity over time.

A further development is that the door opening angle of zero (which corresponds to a closed door) can be determined by switching on the door switch.

In one embodiment, the rotation rate sensor is a Vibrating Structure Gyroscope (VSG). The vibrating structure gyroscope is particularly robust, small, and inexpensive.

In one embodiment, the at least one inertial sensor is an acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensor is in particular provided for measuring linear acceleration.

In principle, the door opening angle can also be determined by an acceleration sensor, in particular if the door is only slightly open. However, the accuracy of the determination for a single acceleration sensor decreases significantly with larger pivoting angles of the door. This can be compensated for by using a plurality of differently oriented acceleration sensors.

A further advantageous application of the acceleration sensor is to determine an offset of the rotation speed sensor. The door opening angle determined by the rotational speed sensor can be corrected and thus determined more accurately, taking into account the offset determined in this way. In particular for this application (however, in principle also for further applications), it is advantageous if at least one rotational speed sensor and at least one (linear) acceleration sensor are installed in at least one door.

In one configuration, the at least one inertial sensor is a MEMS sensor. MEMS ("micro-electromechanical system") sensors have the advantage that they can be implemented directly in an integrated circuit.

Instead of a MEMS sensor, the at least one inertial sensor may be a piezoelectric sensor. The piezoelectric sensor may, for example, have a quartz rod which bends slightly during acceleration and disturbs the resonant circuit slightly.

In the case of inertial sensors, a distinction can be made between integrated sensors, in which the electronic evaluation circuit and the sensor core are integrated in a common chip, and discrete sensors, which are composed of separate sensor chips and electronic evaluation chips.

One embodiment provides that the at least one inertial sensor is connected to an energy store for operating the at least one inertial sensor, which energy store can be charged wirelessly at least when the door is closed. This achieves the advantage that the supply lines to the inertial sensor can be dispensed with. The energy store can have, for example, at least one supercapacitor. By means of the energy store, further components connected to the inertial sensor (e.g., an evaluation circuit) can be supplied with energy if necessary.

The energy accumulator can be charged wirelessly at least when the door is closed, and may include that the energy supply is no longer active when the door is significantly open.

In a further development, the energy store can be charged inductively. For this purpose, the energy store can be connected to a pickup coil in which an induced voltage can be induced by means of an induced alternating magnetic field in order to charge the energy store and to operate the inertial sensor and, if appropriate, further components connected to the inertial sensor (e.g. an evaluation circuit). To achieve this further solution, at least one primary coil, which is provided and arranged for generating an inductive ("charging") alternating magnetic field, can be present in the body of the domestic appliance. The primary coil is opposed to the pickup coil when the door is closed for efficient energy transfer.

It is also a further development that the at least one inertial sensor can be supplied with energy in connection with the line. This achieves the advantage that an energy accumulator can be dispensed with. For this purpose, the supply line, for example a simple two-wire line, can be guided from the body into the door.

In principle, at least one inertial sensor can be wirelessly chargeable and at least one further inertial sensor located in the door can be supplied with energy in connection with a line.

In one embodiment, the at least one inertial sensor is connected to the wireless communication interface. This makes it possible to communicate wirelessly between the inertial sensor and at least one further component of the household appliance, which is provided for wireless communication, for example with a central control device, at least one camera, etc. This again achieves the advantage that no data transmission lines need to be guided to or into the door.

One configuration is that the data of the at least one inertial sensor can be transmitted by wire, for example to a central control device, to at least one camera, etc.

A further development is to transmit data of the inertial sensor unidirectionally, wherein only sensor data or measurement data are output via the communication interface. In a further development, the data transmission takes place bidirectionally, the sensor data or the measurement data being output via the communication interface and the control commands or further data being received.

In a further embodiment, the household appliance has an evaluation unit connected to the at least one inertial sensor for evaluating sensor data of the at least one inertial sensor, in particular for determining the current door opening position. The evaluation unit evaluates sensor signals or measurement data, in particular for at least one inertial sensor, to determine a door opening angle and, if appropriate, also other values, for example a door opening speed.

In a further development, the evaluation unit is programmable, which facilitates flexible use of the evaluation unit and adjustment of the operating point, for example the trigger angle. Whereby e.g. the trigger angle can be changed, newly added and/or deleted. For this purpose, the evaluation unit has a data memory, in particular a programmable, non-volatile data memory, such as an EEPROM or the like.

At least a part of the evaluation unit can be combined with the inertial sensor to form a common "integrated sensor". The evaluation unit and the inertial sensor can also be arranged in a common component, for example in the operating electronics located in the door. Furthermore, the evaluation unit and the inertial sensor may be arranged distributed over the appliance, for example with the inertial sensor in the door and the evaluation unit in the body.

If the evaluation unit is combined with the inertial sensor as an integrated sensor or if the evaluation unit and the inertial sensor are arranged on a common component, the evaluation unit can be connected to the energy store, similar to the inertial sensor, or can be supplied with energy in a wired connection.

The data can then also be transmitted from or to the evaluation unit wirelessly and/or by wire. In particular, data of further components of the household appliance can only be exchanged with the evaluation unit, i.e. not directly with the inertial sensor.

In general, the evaluation unit can be connected or coupled to a plurality of inertial sensors, for example, wirelessly and/or by wire, if appropriate also to inertial sensors arranged in different doors. The evaluation device can be connected to a further sensor (not designed as an inertial sensor) which can detect, in particular, the position or orientation of at least one door, for example by means of at least one door opening switch, at least one magnetometer, for example a hall sensor, or the like. This may even further improve the accuracy of the determination of the position of the at least one door and/or the door opening angle.

One embodiment provides that the household appliance, in particular the evaluation unit, is provided for triggering at least one action as a function of the door opening angle detected by the at least one inertial sensor. In particular, an evaluation unit can be provided for this purpose.

In one embodiment, the at least one action comprises a light control of the household appliance. The light generation can thereby advantageously be adapted particularly well to the current door opening angle. The light control may comprise a change in brightness and/or a change in color of the light generated by the household appliance. For this purpose, the household appliance may have at least one light-generating device, which can be controlled, for example, directly by the evaluation unit or by a further control device (e.g., a central control device). The light generating means may for example have one or more LEDs.

In a further aspect, the light control includes light control of light injected into the process chamber by at least one light generating device. For example, the brighter the process chamber can be illuminated, the smaller the door opening angle. This is advantageous for unifying the overall brightness within the process chamber taking into account the incident ambient light. The treatment chamber may be understood, for example, as a cooling chamber of a refrigerator in the case of a refrigeration appliance, as a cooking chamber in the case of a cooking appliance, as a washing chamber in the case of a dishwasher, etc.

In a further aspect, the light control comprises a light control of light emitted by the household appliance into the surroundings. The color of the light emitted by the operating element and/or the decorative element, for example, can thereby be varied as a function of the door opening angle. This may for example be advantageous for a very efficient notification of the door open status to the user as well.

One configuration is that the domestic appliance is a refrigeration appliance, in particular a refrigeration appliance having a refrigerator, for example a separate refrigerator, a combined refrigerator-freezer appliance or the like.

In a further development, the refrigerator has at least one Camera, which is provided for capturing images of the cooling chamber insert, which can also be referred to as a Camera in refrigerator Camera CiF. Here, the at least one camera may be arranged in the door.

A further solution is that the light control in the CiF appliance comprises a short-time increase of the illumination intensity in relation to the door opening angle at the triggering time point of the at least one camera. Improved shooting brightness can thus be advantageously achieved. This may in a further aspect comprise emitting one or more flashes into the cooling chamber simultaneously with the triggering time point. In particular, the illumination intensity can be increased in a targeted manner for short periods at a plurality of door opening angles.

One embodiment provides that the at least one camera can be triggered to take one or more images by means of the door opening angle determined by the at least one inertial sensor. For this purpose, at least one camera can be connected directly to an evaluation unit or indirectly to a further control device coupled to the evaluation unit, from which the evaluation unit receives the corresponding control commands.

If the at least one camera is directly wired to the evaluation unit, the advantage is achieved that the wiring effort is particularly low. This is particularly advantageous if not only the at least one camera but also the evaluation unit are arranged in the same door.

One configuration is that a plurality of cameras can be triggered independently of one another on the basis of the respective door opening angle. This achieves the advantage that images can be taken from a particularly advantageous direction or angle. Multiple cameras may be triggered at the same and/or different door opening angles. A further solution which can be implemented particularly easily is that a plurality of cameras are connected directly to the same evaluation unit, i.e. the same evaluation unit is connected to the cameras in a multi-channel manner. That is to say, a plurality of cameras can be triggered independently of one another by the same evaluation unit.

In a further development, the camera can be assigned an individual code by first triggering at least one camera when the household appliance is produced, which facilitates the setting, in particular the programming, of the household appliance.

The voice control can also be implemented particularly advantageously by means of at least one inertial sensor. The voice control can be activated or deactivated, for example, depending on the opening angle of the door.

Drawings

The foregoing features, characteristics and advantages of the present invention, as well as the manner and method of how to achieve the same, will be more clearly and more clearly understood in conjunction with the following schematic description of an embodiment, which is described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a sectional view of a household appliance according to the invention in the form of a refrigerator 1 in a top view. The refrigerator 1 has a cooling chamber 2 with a front loading opening which can be closed by means of a door 4 with a door handle 5 which can be pivoted about a rotational axis 3.

An inertial sensor in the form of a vibrating structure gyroscope 6 serving as a rotational speed sensor and an inertial sensor in the form of an acceleration sensor 7 are mounted in the door 4. The acceleration sensor 7 is in particular mounted at a wide distance from the axis of rotation 3 in order to obtain relatively high acceleration forces. The vibrating structure gyroscope 6 and the acceleration sensor 7 may be designed as MEMS sensors, but are not limited thereto.

The vibrating structure gyroscope 6 and the acceleration sensor 7 are connected or coupled, in particular wired, to an evaluation unit 8 for evaluating sensor data of the vibrating structure gyroscope 6 and the acceleration sensor 7. The evaluation unit 8 is provided for evaluating the measurement signals of the inertial sensors 6 and 7, calculating the door opening angle and triggering at least one action depending on the door opening angle.

The at least one action may comprise triggering two cameras 9, also mounted in the door 4, which are arranged on different parts of the inside of the door 4 and which can take images of the cooling chamber 2. In principle, only one or more than two cameras 9 may also be present. In the case of a plurality of cameras 9, at least one camera may also be mounted in the fixed body 10 of the refrigerator 1 (not shown). The cameras 9 can be triggered in particular by the evaluation unit 8 at the same and/or different door opening angles. The camera 9 may communicate with the evaluation unit 8 wirelessly or by wire.

For wireless communication, the evaluation unit 8 can generally be connected to a wireless communication interface 12 or have a wireless communication interface 12. The inertial sensors 6 and 7 are thus also indirectly connected to the wireless communication interface 12 via the evaluation unit 8.

Wireless communication with the camera 9 and/or with further components of the refrigerator 1 (e.g. a central control device, a screen, an image projector, a light generating device, etc., not shown) and/or with external devices, such as an external user interface (e.g. a smartphone, etc.) can be achieved. The image taken by the camera 9 can thus also be displayed on the screen of the smartphone. Alternatively or additionally, wired communication with further components of the refrigerator 1 can be achieved.

Additionally, the at least one action may include a light control of the refrigerator 1. This can be achieved, for example, by briefly increasing the illumination intensity of the light generating device (not shown) for illuminating the cooling chamber 2 at the activation time of the respective camera 9 in relation to the door angle.

The evaluation unit 8 and the inertial sensors 6 and 7 are also connected (indirectly via the evaluation unit 8 or directly) to an energy store 13, for example a battery, a capacitor, in particular a supercapacitor, or the like, which can be charged wirelessly at least when the door 4 is closed. This also makes it possible to operate the evaluation unit 8 and the inertial sensors 6 and 7 automatically when the door 4 is opened, without the need to run electrical lines into the door 4.

The accumulator 13 may be charged wirelessly at least when the door 4 is closed. For this purpose, inductive energy transmission is used here, and a primary coil 14 is present in the body 10, which primary coil is situated at a small distance from a pickup coil 15 present in the door 4 when the door 4 is closed. The primary coil 14 may generate an alternating magnetic field which is picked up by the pick-up coil 15. The induced voltage thus generated at the pick-up coil 15 can be used to operate the evaluation unit 8 and the inertial sensors 6 and 7, if necessary after rectification.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

"a" and the like are to be understood in general as meaning singular or plural, in particular "at least one" or "one or more", and the like, provided that this is not explicitly excluded, for example by the expression "exactly one" and the like.

The numerical specification can also include the quantities just given and the usual tolerance ranges, as long as this is not explicitly excluded.

List of reference numerals

1 refrigerator

2 Cooling Chamber

3 door

4 rotating shaft

5 door handle

6 vibrating structure gyroscope

7 acceleration sensor

8 evaluation unit

9 vidicon

10 main body

12 Wireless communication interface

13 energy accumulator

14 primary coil

15 pick-up coil

Alpha door opening angle.

Claims

1. A household appliance (1) having at least one movable door (4) and having at least one sensor (6, 7) for detecting a door opening angle (α) of the at least one door (4), wherein the at least one sensor (6, 7) has at least one inertial sensor (6, 7) integrated into the at least one door (4), the household appliance (1) is provided for triggering at least one action depending on the door opening angle (α) detected by the at least one inertial sensor (6, 7), the at least one inertial sensor (6, 7) is a rotational speed sensor (6), the at least one inertial sensor (6, 7) is an acceleration sensor (7), the acceleration sensor (7) is configured for determining an offset of the rotational speed sensor,

wherein the offset is used to correct a door opening angle (α) detected by the rotation speed sensor.

2. The household appliance (1) according to claim 1, wherein said rotation speed sensor (6) is a vibrating structure gyroscope.

3. The household appliance (1) according to claim 1, wherein at least one inertial sensor (6, 7) is a MEMS sensor.

4. Household appliance (1) according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 3, wherein at least one inertial sensor (6, 7) is connected with an energy accumulator (13) that can be charged wirelessly at least when the door (4) is closed.

5. The household appliance (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein at least one inertial sensor (6, 7) is connected to a wireless communication interface (12).

6. The household appliance (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the household appliance (1) has an evaluation unit (8) connected to the at least one inertial sensor (6, 7) for evaluating sensor data of the at least one inertial sensor (6, 7).

7. The household appliance (1) according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein said at least one action comprises a light control of the household appliance (1).

8. Household appliance (1) according to claim 7, wherein said household appliance (1)

Is a refrigerator appliance having a refrigerator (1),

-having at least one camera (9) which is provided for taking images of the cooling chamber (2) and

-is provided for triggering at least one camera (9) to take one or more images by means of the door opening angle (a) determined by the at least one inertial sensor (6, 7).

9. The household appliance (1) according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of cameras (9) can be triggered independently of each other based on the respective door opening angle (a) determined by the at least one inertial sensor (6, 7).

10. The household appliance (1) according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the light control comprises a momentarily increased illumination intensity in relation to the door opening angle (a) at a triggering point of time of at least one camera (9).